The project to replace the Route 18 bridges over Route 1 in New Brunswick has begun and will last for two years.File photo

NEW BRUNSWICK — The project to replace and widen the Route 18 bridges over Route 1 in New Brunswick has begun and will require the closing of lanes of traffic on Route 1 while work is done at night.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation announced today that work this week will be from 10:30 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning and will require the temporary closing of up to two lanes in each direction on Route 1.

Steve Shapiro, a spokesman for the DOT, said the $28.4 million federally-funded project is aimed at easing congestion and improving safety on the heavily traveled section of Route 18 between The New Jersey Turnpike and Route 1. He said about 100,000 vehicles travel the stretch every day.

He said work began last week.

Shapiro said the Route 18 bridges over Route 1 will be replaced and the structure will be widened in the northbound direction. The existing Route 18 northbound right shoulder from just north of Westons Mill Pond will be converted to a third travel lane up to the interchange with Route 1.

Demolition work and installation of the new superstructure units of the bridges is planned to occur over a series of weekends later in the two-year project while still maintaining two lanes of traffic in each direction on Route 18 to minimize impacts to motorists, Shapiro said.

The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2016.

Meanwhile, work is continuing on the project by the N. J. Turnpike Authority to upgrade Interchange 9, widen Route 18 and build new ramps to the Interchange in East Brunswick on the New Brunswick border-just south of where the state’s project is underway.